"Ovo has had a fantastic year, but things will only get hotter from here," she said.

"We are a small company growing quickly within a hugely controversial industry in the eye of a political storm, and as a challenger brand Stephen has done a great deal to help give the company a platform, but now it’s about looking at how we use that platform and where the company goes with it."

Lennard was hired by Edelman three years ago to launch an energy specialism within its public affairs practice, having done the same at Hanover Communications.

Before this, she was a member of the Tories’ energy team in opposition and went on to act as campaigns manager at CCHQ ahead of the 2010 General Election.

Ovo has hired her as part of wider efforts to build up its comms, which is currently handled by one comms specialist as well as by the marketing department and the company more broadly.

Though declining to go into specifics, Lennard said she expected more arrivals on the team shortly, adding: "Customers are dissatisfied with the Big Six [the biggest energy providers in the UK market] and Ovo does not want to create the Big Seven. We want people to understand that this growth will not compromise our belief in simpler, fairer and cheaper energy."